


Come as You Aren't

by hiddencait



Category: Sanctuary (TV)
Genre: Gen, Halloween Costumes, lightly shippy for Ashley/Henry but can be read as gen, terribly fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-14
Updated: 2015-10-14
Packaged: 2018-04-26 07:33:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4995772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hiddencait/pseuds/hiddencait
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Henry and Ashley try to find costumes, and there is a slight misunderstanding...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Come as You Aren't

**Author's Note:**

  * For [anothercrazymom](https://archiveofourown.org/users/anothercrazymom/gifts).



“Why is this so hard?” Ashley grumbled, turned the pages of the costume catalog with successively more vicious force with each page she came across. Henry reached over and patted her on the shoulder in solidarity, his own catalog open in the other hand.

 

Halloween was seriously business at the Sanctuary. You’d think a bunch of what Hollywood would have called monsters wouldn’t be quite so into dressing up, but every year the costumes got bigger and better and more intricate. There was even a contest among the residents. The big guy had won with a fantastic mummy get up last year, complete with live scarab beetles.

 

For those who weren’t great at creating their own garb, though, the contest was on the daunting side. Finding a premade costume that wasn’t A) slutty, B) cheaply made, or C) a stereotypical version of one of the residents, was nearly impossible.

 

Ashley growled, and Henry glanced over to see the current page chock full of option A). No wonder she was getting pissed off. It didn’t help that half of the few costumes covering the most skin hit a little too close to home. In his not so humble geek’s opinion, his Ash was already a walking combination of Lara Croft and Catwoman; finding something that didn’t look like it had just been hanging in her closet made things trickier.

 

Henry’d brought up the option of going more on the ladylike side, but Ashley had shot that down quick, saying, not in-accurately, “There’s no way I’m wearing a dress. Because when Mom calls for a job, and let’s face it, if I make the effort to wear a dress, Murphy is so going to make sure that she calls, I’ll need to be able to fight. Can’t bag the bad guys if you can’t run in the skirt.”

 

He kept flipping through his own catalog. This one ran more towards period replica costumes. They were more expensive, but damned if they weren’t all sorts of cool. Plus, he was willing to shell out some cash for something well made. He turned the page and tilted his head with a low hum. Now this looked promising.

 

“How do you feel about chainmail?” he asked. He didn’t expect that punch to his shoulder out of nowhere or Ashley’s following glare. “What was that for?” he whined, rubbing at his arm.

 

“Are you seriously suggesting I wear a chainmail bikini? There’s no way I’m doing that, and you know better!”

 

“What? I wasn’t – I meant…” He really hadn’t been thinking that, but once she’d mentioned it, he couldn’t get the image out of his head. Still stammering and desperately trying to control his blush, he finally gave up trying to explain himself and shoved the catalog at her, pointing to the costume halfway down the page.

 

It was from their “Literary” collection inspired by various books, specifically the “Tortallan Legends.” Whatever Tortall was, it apparently contained several lady warriors with everything from a Lady Knight in full plate to a Squire in chainmail, tunic, and trews. The Squire was the one that had caught Henry’s eye. Mail wasn’t light, but armor of any sort was never a bad idea in their line of work, and it would still weigh less than the plate mail.

 

“Oh, I _like_ that,” Ashley mused, looking intently at costume. Henry smiled proudly.

 

Out of nowhere, she punched him again. “Don’t think this means you’re forgiven about the bikini.”

 

“But I wasn’t thinking about the bikini!” Except that now he was again, only because she brought it up.

 

…

 

Ashley had her revenge for his assumed sin. While she actually did wear the chainmail Squire’s garb he’d found for her, Henry found himself blackmailed into a rather fetching medieval court gown, complete with something the big guy called a “wimple.”

 

It won him First Place in the Costume Contest. And even Henry had to admit that it showed off his collar bones beautifully.


End file.
